Just Practical Magic on Woodland Avenue
Words Codi Chen | Photos Frank Garnica
On a sunny stretch of road in East Travis Heights, Jonna and Juke Ball built a unique home, and they’ve barely left since.
When it came time to build their dream home, the couple struggled to identify their combined styles. What they did have in common was a love of subtropical architecture: high ceilings, wraparound porches, and the pre-air-conditioning logic of buildings designed to breathe. They found styles they loved in New Orleans and in old Victorian Sydney homes.
And now their vision has come to life in East Austin.
Architect Shane Pavonetti of Pavonetti Architecture describes their brief as something he doesn’t often get. “We got to do a mix of punk-rock-meets-maximalist Victorian,” he grins.
The goal was to thread that old-world detail through a modern lens. This came together by running porches around the full perimeter so that nearly every room connects to both the inside and the outside. It feels like somewhere you’d wander into on a side street in the French Quarter and never want to leave.
Inside, designed in collaboration with Bandd/Design, the house rewards the curious. The living room’s bookshelves and custom built-ins are so precisely crafted that guests have assumed it was a gut renovation, not a new build. The kitchen stretches long, flooded with natural light, where Jonna spends most of her time cooking and lingering at the table.
Out back, the apothecary is something else entirely: a fully-appointed outbuilding with herbs on the wall, a small kitchen, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that double as a gathering space for friends. “The coven meets here on the full moon,” Jonna laughs.
Juke’s cigar room, accessible only from the exterior balcony and equipped with its own filtration system, serves as his office, his football sanctuary, and his retreat.
Eighteen months in, Jonna and Juke have noticed something. They used to go out into the city constantly, but now they can barely bring themselves to leave their home. “People love to be here,” Jonna sighs. “It’s an easy place to be.” Turns out, that’s the whole idea.
Beyond the Bonus Room: Forget the home office. This residence has a dedicated cigar room, a music room, an apothecary stocked with herbs and books, and a guest suite upstairs. Every room has a very unique purpose customized to the homeowners.
Contact:
pavonettiarchitecture.com
@pavonettiarchitecture
bandddesign.com
@jointhebandd
